Swimming a mile for charity
“Please support our swim to rescue abused children from the deep waters they find themselves in."
IN support of The Teddy Bear Foundation, a team of swimmers will be competing in the Midmar Mile at Midmar Dam, over the weekend of February 11 and 12, to raise funds for the organisation.
First-time swimmer Stephan Cilliers from Mondeor said, “It was actually my GP, Armas van Niekerk, who is also in the swimming team, who talked me into doing it, but as soon as I began training I realised how much I enjoy swimming. I’m looking forward to competing.”
The team consists of Stephan, Deon van Niekerk, Armas Ferreira (all Mondeor guys), Arthur Blake from Melville and Myles Sinclair from Hilton.
When asked about training, Deon said, “The training never stops. To keep ourselves fit and in top form, we all train on a regular basis.”
The Teddy Bear Foundation originated in 1986 in response to an urgent need for medical examinations for sexually abused children. From there it has grown into a fully-fledged service for abused children which includes: forensic medical examinations, forensic assessments, counselling, psychological testing and more recently a diversion programme for youth sexual offenders.
Dalene Bishop, the donor liaison officer at The Teddy Bear Foundation said, “Our mission is to minimise the secondary harm to children and their families when entering the child protection system by providing expertise, information and support in order to make their journey a healing one. Each journey includes a medical examination, forensic assessment, therapy and court preparation, which all costs money.
“Please support our swim to rescue abused children from the deep waters they find themselves in, by enabling The Teddy Bear Foundation to continue providing the specialised support services for victims of abuse,” the team said.
Last year they raised over R60 000 which helped 11 children through their journey of healing and this year they’d like to match or better it.
Local business owner, Gino Mazza, invoted the team and guests to enjoy a meal at his restaurant and said he’s behind the team all the way.
If you would like to make a difference to an abused child’s life, support the team of swimmers with a sponsorship for the foundation by emailing Dalene on daleneb@ttbc.org.za or alternatively, deposit a donation directly into their bank account at Nedbank: Teddy Bear Clinic for Abused Children; Nedbank account number 1944183361; branch code 194405; branch name Parktown and as a reference, please include your name and Midmar.
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